Three Division I players have a football past but no immediate future.

All played for bowl teams last season. One set school records for career sacks (28) and tackles for loss (49), another was an all-conference cornerback in the NCAA’s fifth-ranked pass defense, and the third set an NCAA record for rushing touchdowns by quarterback in a single season.

But don’t look for end Josh McNary, cornerback Reggie Rembert or quarterback Ricky Dobbs to be drafted by the NFL this month. Playing football was just a sidelight for them. All have a more immediate calling in life -- the military.

They were the best players at the nation’s three major military academies in 2010: McNary at Army, Rembert at Air Force and Dobbs at Navy.

All were invited to participate in post-season all-star games -- Dobbs and McNary the East-West Shrine and Rembert the Texas vs. Nation -- but that would be the last football they will play for a while.

Dobbs has a five-year commitment to the Navy ahead of him -- as did Roger Staubach in 1964. McNary and Rembert also have five-year commitments, although they will be allowed to petition after two years to have the remaining three years of active service converted into six years of reserve duty.

That would allow them to pursue careers in professional football. That’s the route Army linebacker Caleb Campbell took. He was a sixth-round draft pick by Detroit in 2008 who wound up joining the Lions in 2010 after serving his two years of active duty.

"The NFL has been one of my dreams since I started playing football at five," Rembert said. "It’s the ultimate dream, so I’d love to play there."

But that dream didn’t start crystallizing for Rembert until his junior season at Air Force. He played his high school football at Flower Mound, where he led the state of Texas in interceptions.

"I told my parents they wouldn’t have to pay for my education," Rembert said. "I told them I was going to play football, that I wasn’t going to stop at high school. So I told them I’d pay for college."

But at 5-6, 160 pounds, the Division I schools weren’t flooding his mailbox with scholarship offers.

"I’ve always felt I had what it takes," Rembert said. "All I felt I needed was a shot. That’s always driven me – teams saying I was too small. That’s given me a chip on my shoulder and makes me want to work harder. I feel I can play with anybody. I have that confidence and I’ve worked that hard. I just needed a chance."

The Air Force Academy gave it to him -- then Rembert gave a little something back. He started as a sophomore but enjoyed a bit of a growth spurt the summer before his junior season. He put on 15 pounds, growing into a shutdown corner at 5-8, 180 pounds.

Over his final two seasons Rembert would intercept six passes and earn consecutive All-Mountain West honors -- the school’s first back-to-back honoree in 11 years. He also returned a school-record 65 career kickoffs for a 21.4-yard average.

Rembert will spend the 2011 football season as a graduate assistant at Air Force, then spend 2012 training to become an acquisitions officer, possibly at bases in California, Florida or Massachusetts.

But as Rembert made the rounds at the Texas vs. Nation game in January, visiting with NFL scouts and coaches, he delivered a message.

"I told them I’m going to be there (NFL) -- it’s just a matter of when," Rembert said. "So look out for me. Whether it’s a year, two years, whenever -- I’m going to keep working hard to get where I want to be.”

Like Rembert, McNary was lightly-recruited coming out of Houston Clear Lake High School. The military was in his blood -- his father was a retired Marine Corps captain -- so he walked on at Army.

A safety in high school, McNary moved up to linebacker as a freshman at West Point and on to end as a sophomore. He became a three-year starter and set school records for sacks in a game, season and career. Forty-nine of his 195 career tackles were for losses totaling 286 yards.

McNary served as a captain as a senior on a team that went to the school’s first bowl in 14 years.

Dobbs also served as a captain of a bowl team in 2010 in addition to vice president of Navy’s senior class. In his two seasons as a starter, the Douglasville, Ga., native steered the Midshipmen to 18 victories in 25 games.

Dobbs set an NCAA record with 27 rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in 2009 and another mark with 41 over a two-year span, besting the 38 by Nebraska Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch in 2000-01.

Dobbs rushed for 100 yards in 13 of his 25 starts and scored a touchdown in 22 games. He graduates as Navy’s all-time leading scorer with 296 points.

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.